


Three's A Crowd

by lozisimmortal (orphan_account)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Albus is very oblivious, F/M, I hardly edited this I'm too lazy, I still did pretty good though, M/M, There are so many OCs, dean and seamus needed to get married and have a kid and Rowling didn't let them so I did, slowburn, some of them I mention once and then you never see them again, this was my NANOWRIMO 2019 work but I never finished it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21818497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/lozisimmortal
Summary: Albus thought that he'd be happy for Scorpius, but now that he's dating Rose, they never talk anymore.Niamh Thomas-Finnegan didn't think that she'd be helping the infamous Albus Potter through his sexual identify crisis, but here she was.Whoever said a Slytherin and a Gryffindor couldn't be friends?
Relationships: Albus Severus Potter & Original Female Character(s), Albus Severus Potter & Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy & Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy/Rose Weasley, Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas
Comments: 26
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

**Tuesday**  
**12th of October, 2021**  
**Albus**

  
For Albus and Scorpius, Fourth year came and went uneventfully, and life continued as it always does. Teenagers did as teenagers do, and by their fifth year, their 'little adventure' had been practically forgotten by the student body. There were more important things to talk about, and the son of the famous Harry Potter and the son of the infamous Draco Malfoy, just weren't that interesting.

Albus' classmates were actually nicer to him now, and when the potion he was brewing blew up in his face (quite literally), no one had laughed, and Rich “the Dick’ Webb, an athletic Hufflepuff who Albus had only spoken to once or twice, had even handed him a cloth to wipe the soot off of his face.

Albus was almost glad that it had been a peaceful year, yet some part of him missed the happenings of last year. Missed the action and excitement. Nothing interesting really happened anymore.

He would wake up, go to his lessons, study, go to sleep. Over and over again. Sometimes he and Scorpius would watch a Quidditch game - that was something new that they did. Albus wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but Scorpius seemed happy.

That's all there was to life now.

He knew that what he had done was stupid, and reckless, but at least he had done something. At least something interesting had happened.

Despite what his dad thought, Albus did not seek out danger. Not intentionally, at least. He only wished for people to look at him in a way that wasn't with hatred, or pity. He wanted something more. He wanted...

Well, Albus wasn't quite sure what he wanted, really. There was something nagging him. Something he was missing. Something that kept him up some nights, staring up at the wooden roof of his four-poster bed, usually after a Quidditch game or Hogsmeade trip with Scorpius (he had eventually agreed to let his dad sign his slip).

But he couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was.

It wasn't anything to do with his dad, he knew that at least. His dad had been trying to connect with Albus after last year, and it had worked. They’d gone to Godric’s Hollow again, in 2021 that is, not 1981, and had lain flowers on James and Lily’s graves - bright white lilies tied together with a red ribbon. Their relationship wasn't perfect, but it was improving, and both Albus and Harry were making an effort. So what was it that was bothering him?

It might have been his bad grades. Despite his popularity going up a little bit from “hated” to “eh,” his skill in class had not gone up, although since the time travel incident, Albus had discovered that, despite the fact that he was bad at most subjects, he was quite good at Charms.

It just so happened that Albus was doing his Charms homework one boring and seemingly uneventful day in October when the door to the dormitories slammed open, causing Albus to jolt his quill across the page and ruin his writing.

He sighed in disappointment, then turned to look at the intruder.

Scorpius stood there, in all of his awkward glory, robes disheveled and a dazed grin on his face.  
Albus went back to his homework, rolling his eyes.

"Ask her out, again?" He asked, barely bothering to look up again.  
Scorpius flopped down onto his bed, face up, sighing.  
"Yeah. I did. I walked passed her on the stairs, you know, the ones near the bathrooms on the fourth floor."  
"Romantic.”  
Scorpius grabbed a pillow and whacked Albus, which he deflected with his arm.  
“Well, she was talking to Hugo, and I don’t know what came over me, but the words just came out.”  
“Sorry, mate. She'll get there. You just have to keep trying; you're sure to wear her down at some point."  
"Oh, don't worry. I know.” Scorpius propped himself up on his elbows. “She said 'yes.'"  
Albus turned around in shock.  
"She said yes?"  
"Yeah! I asked if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade this Saturday. I think she almost said no especially since Hugo was there, but then she said 'see you in the courtyard at 3.'" He flopped back down, face bright red and smiling wide again.  
"Wow," Albus exclaimed. "Good job, Scorp. She likes you. You were right, pity is a start."  
"I know, right?"

Scorpius was silent for a moment, picking at the corner of the doona.  
Concerned by his sudden change in behaviour, Albus frowned at him.  
"What's wrong? Do you regret it or something?"  
Scorpius shook his head.  
"Nothing! No. I'm just... nervous about what she's going to think of me. I mean, what if I say something wrong and insult her? What if I take her to the wrong place? Am I supposed to hold her hand, or is that too much for a first date? What if-"  
"Scorpius," Albus interrupted. "It's going to be fine. She won't care where you go, and she'll want you to hold her hand. Just go with what your gut says."

Scorpius was silent for a second again.

"Can you help?" He asked. Albus wrinkled his nose in confusion.  
"Help? How?"  
"Come with us. Please. I'm worried that I'll do something terrible, and I need you there to stop me from talking if I say too much."  
Albus scoffed. "I am not going on a date with you and Rose. She's my cousin, it's just weird. And you're my best friend. I don't want to see you being all lovey-dovey with my cousin. Ew. That’s fucking gross. What if you kiss?" He faked a caricatured gag.  
"Oh, come on. Please Albus. I'll do anything! I’ll buy you all the sweets from Honeydukes! I’ll- I’ll do your Transfiguration homework! Please!”

Albus thought about it. And he considered it. Scorpius was his best friend. But Rose was his _cousin_. But _Scorpius was his best friend._

“You don’t have to do anything, Scorp. You're my best friend. I'll third wheel your date and hit you in the arm if you say anything wrong."  
Scorpius threw his arms around Albus awkwardly, causing his hand to jolt again, this time knocking over his ink pot

"Oof, Scorpius-"  
"Sorry! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best!"

Albus rolled his eyes, and waved his wand, clearing up the ink with a simple charm.

Saturday was going to be a very long and very awkward day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Saturday**

**18th of October, 2021**

**Albus**

The week sped by quicker than both boys had hoped, and by Saturday, Scorpius was a nervous mess.

"You're going to be fine," said Albus, reassuring Scorpius whilst adjusting his friends shirt. "If she said yes, then she obviously likes you. You're not going to mess it up. Anyway, I'll be there. It's going to be great."

"Thanks Albus. You're still amazing for doing this. Have I told you that yet?"

Albus grinned and ruffled his friend's hair.

"Only every day this week. You all set to go?"

Scorpius nodded weakly, fixed up his hair, and they set out.

Rose was, in fact, waiting for them in the courtyard, and as the boys walked down the large steps the clock chimed three times. She raised an eyebrow at Albus.

"What are  _ you _ doing here?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Albus shrugged.

"Chaperoning. Trust me, I'm not going to enjoy it either."

"Well just, don't bother me and we'll be good." She took Scorpius be the elbow and pointedly ignored Albus. "Come on, then. Let's go."

  
  


The journey to Hogsmeade was silent, for Albus at least, as Rose and Scorpius were chatting away to themselves. Obviously, Albus knew that it would be like this, but Scorpius hadn't even  _ looked  _ at him in the last 15 minutes. Not even when Albus stumbled over a cracked stone, and almost face planted into the ground. Honestly, he was starting to understand how Scorpius felt when Delphi was around.

Even at the thought of her name, Albus shivered. The snapping of his wand had been colder than anything he'd ever felt before. When she'd cast the cruciatus curse on Scorpius, though, Albus had felt like the whole world was breaking apart.

Over the past year, Albus had realised that he never really liked Delphi, more just the idea of her, or the idea of being interested in a girl for the first time. Of having someone other than your family actually talk to you and care about you.

Delphi was kind to him, and seemed to like him, so Albus had done what he thought was right, and like her back. 

It had taken him a few months to come to terms with the fact that, you can't force yourself to like someone, and that whatever he had felt was fake, or at the very least just friendship. 

The first buildings on Hogsmeade appeared in his vision, and Albus tried to clear his head of the thought. Thoughts of  _ her _ , mostly, and of something else that was churning in his stomach. He tried not to think about it.

"So, where are we going?" Rose's voice made him snap his head up to look at her. She was turned towards Scorpius, a curious look on her face and a small smile.

Scorpius shrugged, trying to look casual. They had planned the whole thing out the day before.

"I've been meaning to visit that bookstore on the main street for a while, but didn't want to do it alone. Do you want to come?"

Albus knew what he meant. Scorpius would've been perfectly fine with going alone, but since Albus had only started going to Hogsmeade this year, Scorpius had done everything that he thought Albus would want to do. Rubbing his arms, Albus nodded.

"That sounds like a great idea."

Rose scowled at him, and then turned back to Scorpius with a smile.

"Let's go there then. It's the scroll one, yeah?"

They started walking off, and Scorpius nodded.

"Yeah. It's called Scrolls and something-or-another."

_ Scorpius knows the name,  _ Albus thought bitterly.  _ Why's he trying so hard to impress her? _ Albus glanced at Rose's face, her dark skin just showing a blush.  _ She clearly likes him. _

He scowled and trudged through the snow after them, already hating the day.

  
  
  


They made it to the bookstore, a specialist shop with the title  _ Tomes and Scrolls  _ above large glass doors showing various papers, and rows upon rows of books. 

Scorpius' face lit up, not just from from joy, but from the golden light coming from the shop. His grey eyes shone, and Albus was about to say something about the shop, something that his Aunt had told him, when-

"What do you want to buy from here, Scorpius?"

Scorpius frowned at Rose.

"Buy? Oh, I don't really want to buy anything. I just want to look at the books." He took Rose's hand and led her through the doors. "Come on!"

Albus followed reluctantly, glancing briefly at the sign, before passing through the doors silently and invisible. 

  
  


Scorpius spent half an hour looking at books and scrolls, excitedly pulling out one, rifling through it or unrolling it, skimming through it in a few seconds then putting it back, a grin on his face. 

Albus couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of him. He looked so happy. With the girl of his dreams on one hand, and a heap of books on the other, Albus couldn't help but wonder if this was how it was supposed to be.

Maybe he was supposed to be the one pushed to the side. Maybe, all along, Scorpius was meant to get the girl, and Albus was the helpful best friend and wingman. The  _ fool. _ Destined to die first in horror movies, and always giving out good advice, but never taking any of it himself. Forced to stay at home alone when the handsome hero and his perfect love interest rode off into the sunset.

Albus' stomach ached with… something. It was always something. Something he couldn't name. Something out of reach and unknown to him. He shook it away, absentmindedly grabbing a book about harnessing moonlight - he didn't understand a word - and flicking through it, glancing up at Scorpius bathed in golden light, features bright and delicate.

"You've looked at every book here, don't you think?"

Scorpius and Albus looked up at Rose. She was looking bored, but was politely trying not to show it too much.

"I- well I guess I- I guess I suppose so. I was going to look back at a few more, but if you two wanted to leave, that's fine."

Albus shook his head.

"You can stay if you like, Scorp. It's okay with-"

"Let's go get some tea,  _ Scorp.  _ We'll come back another day."

Scorpius and Albus put back their books, Scorpius easily finding the spots and putting them back gracefully, Albus not so gracefully, having to awkwardly pull apart the surrounding books and shove the one in his hand back before the heavy books crushed his fingers. Rose and Scorpius joined hands again, blushing, and the three of them walked back out of the doors into the cold, leaving the glow and entering the blue and white streets…

...and eventually entering into the overcrowding pink of Madam Puddifoots. Why Rose had wanted to go here, Albus was not sure. She never seemed the romantic type, but then again, the two cousins hadn't had a proper conversation for a few years, so maybe she had changed. They sat at one of the frilly round tables and Albus hung his coat on the back of his chair, looking around.

Rich Webb was sitting at the table next to them with a blushing Hufflepuff boy who Albus had seen in some of his classes, but never learnt the name of.

Behind Rich, 7th year Gryffindor Charlee Davidson had their arm around someone who Albus couldn't see the face of. The two of them were sharing a large pink and purple milkshake with twin yellow straws poking out.

In the corner of the room, Corey Gardener and Isobel Marshall were making out intensely, and Albus had to look away, embarrassed. He glanced away and looked eyes with Eden Jones, a fourth year Slytherin who was sitting alone at a table eating a cheese sandwich, also looking disgusted at the excessive amount of couples here. Eden glanced towards Rose and Scorpius and rolled his eyes, to which Albus nodded.

He smiled to himself, glad to have had somewhat of an actual conversation with someone today, and then turned back to the others at his table. 

Almost childishly, Albus imagined to himself that this was the same table that his father had sat at in  _ his  _ fifth year, though he knew that it was very unlikely.

Madam Puddifoot herself (well, Madam Puddifoot Junior, that is) made her way to their table, a sweet smile on her face.

"What can I get y'all?" She asked, pulling out three menus. Albus grabbed one, and looked at the options. The only thing not named something grossly romantic or pink was a sandwich, Albus guessed that it was the one Eden had been eating, so he ordered that and handed the menu back. 

Rose and Scorpius ordered a bowl of spaghetti to share, which Albus scoffed at, and a hot chocolate each. As they waited for their food, Albus noticed the vase of flowers placed delicately in the middle of their table. He examined them, four red roses and five peonies that looked pretty from a distance, but the peonies were discoloured and wilted, and the roses had holes in the petals. He scoffed at them again, he was doing that a lot today, and grabbed one of the roses, accidentally pricking his thumb on a thorn. 

He examined the rose intensely whilst Rose and Scorpius chatted away, deep in their own little world. He looked at the two of them, perfect and happy, and suddenly decided that he'd had enough. He stood up, barely wincing at the scrape of the chair against the wood. 

"I have to go," he said. Madam Puddifoot (Jr) frowned, a half step away from the table, food in hand, and Albus threw a couple of knuts on the table. Scorpius glanced up at him.

"Oh! Uh, okay. See you later, Albus." He turned back to Rose, and Albus rolled his eyes.

He wasn't really sure what he was so angry about, but he stormed to the door and opened it, hearing the musical bell tinkle behind behind him, and slammed the door hard, ignoring as the shop vibrated slightly. He hoped he never heard that fucking bell ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea why I decided to include Rich in here again, and I have no idea who everyone else is, but I literally love them more than I love the main characters.
> 
> Also, I decided to edit and post this at like, 3am so I'm sorry if it's all over the place.


	3. Chapter 3

**Saturday**

**18th of October, 2021**

**Albus**

Albus stomped through the snow, not quite sure where he was going, but looking for some place warm. He'd left his coat in the café, and was too stubborn to head back. He saw the familiar sign for the Three Broomsticks up ahead, and sighed in relief. His heavy feet carried him there, and he threw open the door. Instantly, the warmth from inside heated him up, and part of him melted. He relaxed slightly, and headed in, this time closing the door respectfully behind him.

A table by the window was free, so he sat down there, staring out the glass at the snow. He still wasn't sure what had happened back there. One second he'd been looking at a rose, and then the smell was making him feel sick, and he just… left.

_ It wasn't an overreaction, was it?  _ He asked himself.  _ Maybe I just felt like a butter beer, and decided to go order one here. _

A figure sat themselves down at his table and he jumped. It held out a hand.

"Hi! I'm Niamh Thomas-Finnegan. You looked like you were upset so I decided to come cheer you up."

Her Gryffindor tie was shoved messily under a yellow sweater, and he recognized her as an outgoing fourth year who he'd seen multiple times at his uncle Ron's joke shop. He specifically remembered that she had been in front of him in line at the counter, and had purchased about 50 items, that took forever to go through. He also vaguely remembered seeing her at meetings with her dads. A brief flash of a memory popped up, but it was too fuzzy to properly recall. Her light-brown hair was soaked, and it dripped water down onto chest from it's position on her shoulders. In the hood of her overcoat was a pile of snow. Albus stared at her.

"What happened to you?" He asked, ignoring her outstretched hand. She sheepishly retracted her hand, and then shrugged.

"I was making my way past Madam Puddifoot's to the post office when a heap of snow fell from the roof onto my head. Almost like someone caused a huge vibration and knocked it off."

Albus frowned.

"Oh. Sorry."

Niamh shrugged.

"It's fine, really. I actually followed you hear so that I could have a go at you, but you looked sad and angry so I decided to see what was up."

"Sad? I'm not sad. Nor am I angry."

"Not sad, huh?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Then why are you sitting alone in the Three Broomsticks looking out the window and scowling instead of causing trouble with your other half."

"My other..? He's not my other half," he relaxed his face. "And I wasn't scowling."

Niamh rolled her eyes. "Sure. Okay yeah. Listen, how about I buy you a butterbeer to cheer you up."

Albus crossed his arms.

"I don't need cheering up." He glanced around, then uncrossed his arms slowly. "But… okay

Niamh grinned wide and gestured to a waitress walking nearby.

"Great!"

  
  


Two large butterbeers landed on their table five minutes later, and Albus took a big sip of his, enjoying the feeling of the hot drink pouring down his throat and through his chest.

"So," asked Niamh, taking a slow sip of hers. "Are you going to tell me the reason why I'm soaking wet?"

Albus sighed and placed his drink on the table.

"Scorpius is on a date with Rose. He wanted me to come to regulate or something, but they ignored me the whole time. I decided that I'd had enough and left. I guess I left with more force than I intended to. Sorry about that by the way."

She shook her head.

"It's not a big deal."

She waved her wand and she dried up, the water and partially melted snow collecting itself above her head, and then popping out of sight. It reappeared five seconds later above a bucket next to the fireplace, sloshing down violently and spilling some water into the floor, almost tipping entirely over.

Niamh cursed.

"Dammit," she said, putting away her wand. "So close to perfect."

Albus gaped at her.

"What was that?"

"What, the spell? It was just a collection spell, and a simplistic teleport- the same one the tables are enchanted with to get the food to the Great Hall. We've been learning them recently, but I'm having trouble with getting the teleport at the right height. I keep getting it too high or too low. Once, I even-"

Albus waved a hand, cutting her off.

"I know what spells it was. I learnt them last year."

"Oh."

"I was surprised because you could've dried yourself at any time, yet you didn't until just then."

Niamh laughed a bit.

"Oh, yeah. Back when I was angry at you, I thought that if I was still soaking wet you'd feel bad. I realised that I wasn't mad anymore, but then forgot to dry myself off."

Albus laughed too, taking another sip of his drink. Niamh was funny, and she had bought him his drink, but she wasn't Scorpius. Scorpius and Albus had inside jokes, and they had almost five years worth of memories, but everything was messed up now. Scorpius was off making new memories and creating new inside jokes with Rose. Maybe what Albus needed was a new friend. Not quite a new Scorpius, but someone who he could hang out with whilst his so-called 'best friend' was off frolicking with Rose. Niamh chugged the rest of her drink, then stood up.

"Let's go. I've got to do some shopping, and you're coming with me."

Albus looked down at his half drunken drink, chugged it as well, then stood up. He didn't know why he was going with her, but he had nothing better to do then follow, so follow he did.

They walked out into cold, and Albus suddenly remembered his lack of layers. Niamh noticed his shivering.

"What did you like, not bring a coat or something?"

Albus shook his head.

"I left it in Madam Puddifoot's. I didn't want to go back and get it after I'd just stormed out."

Niamh thought for a moment.

"I'll go get it. I've got to Madam Puddifoot anyway. Meet me at Zonko's."

She jogged off, and Albus made his way to Zonko's.

It was ten minutes before Niamh arrived at the colourful doors, Albus' coat in hand.

"So, what were they doing?" He asked.

Niamh handed him his coat.

"Uh, they were talking. Eating food. Not much."

Niamh was a bad liar. Albus decided not to press too much. Truthfully, he didn't really want to know what the truth was. They walked inside, and Albus was instantly blinded by the horrible colour choice on the walls.

"I forgot how sickening the paint job was in here," he remarked. Niamh snorted.

"Yeah it's pretty bad," She grabbed a handful of dungbombs off a shelf. 

"What do you need those for anyway?"

She turned and grinned at him.

"Secret."

Albus rolled his eyes, and picked up a Sugar Quill. 

"Okay. Random stranger buys me a drink, drags me shopping with her, and then refuses to tell what she's doing. Cool, cool. Totally not going to get murdered or robbed."

Niamh scoffed.

"We're hardly random strangers. Me, you and Rose used to hang out heaps when we were young." She laughed. "Remember that time I convinced James that your dad's owl had transformed into a book? Oh, it was brilliant."

Now that she mentioned it, he could remember it. Especially the look on James face. He laughed along.

"Honestly, I had forgotten about that. I kinda forgot how much we hung out as kids. How old you we have been?"

Niamh put on a pair of joke glasses that made her eyes look like they were changing colours.

"I think we would've been about 7 and 8. I think your sister had just started primary school."

Albus nodded.

"Huh. It's so weird that I just forgot. Now that we're talking about it, I'm remembering it all though. How are your dads by the way? They haven't been around in a while."

"Yeah, they're fine. Dad recently got one of his paintings put into a local art gallery, and Daidí been helping the Ministry with a lot. But yeah, you know how it was. By the time our generation were all old enough to walk and talk and learn or whatever, things had calmed down, and our parents had recovered enough from the battle that the meetings just, stopped. Then there was the whole thing with you last year, and well, it's not that we didn't care, but you know how my Daidí is. He thought it was just your Dad being paranoid. He thought that you and Scorpius had just ran away, and even said it was because you-" she cut herself off suddenly. Albus frowned.

"Because we what?"

Her eyes darted back and forth.

"Uh… oh, would you look at that. I finally found the frog spawn soap. Ha ha looks like I got everything I need. I'mma go pay. Want me to buy that Quill for you?"

Albus blinked.  _ She's a  _ really  _ bad liar _ . He thought. The frog swamp soap was on the other side of the shop. He didn't really care though, and handed her the Sugar Quill. 

"Thanks."

That was the second time she had lied to him that day, and both times had been regarding Scorpius. Did she know something he didn't? What was she gaining from it? Albus looked at her buying the huge pile of joke items at the counter.  _ Most importantly, what the fuck was she planning to do with all of that? _

The first time Albus had entered Zonko's was only about a month earlier, and he and Scorpius had gone to Hogsmeade together. Scorpius was excited to finally go with his best friend, and Albus, who used to think he would've hated it, was actually glad that he was going, because Scorpius had promised him the best hot chocolate in the entire wizarding world. Of course, he wasn't just excited for the hot chocolate, but also because Scorpius was excited to have Albus with him, and it's hard not to be happy when Scorpius was.

_ Except today, apparently. _ He thought.  _ Why did I have to be 'angry Albus' today? _ Today, Scorpius had been happier than Albus had ever seen him, and it hadn't made Albus happy at all. It had done the opposite, really, and Albus had felt sad about it.  _ No, not sad. Just, left out. That was it _ . It was hard to only have one friend, because it meant that when that friend was busy, you had no one else. No one else to hang out with, or drink hot chocolate with.  _ Maybe I should find another friend… _ he considered it for a bit.  _ Who would want to be friends with me, though. Hardly anyone seems to want to even talk to me _ . 

"Albus, you alright?"

He looked up in shock.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah I'm fine, sorry. I was just thinking about something." She looked almost sorry for him, and he had to look away as they walked out of the shop. "Where are we headed next?"

"Honeydukes, but if you want to talk about what was bothering you instead, we can do that."

Albus looked at her in surprise.

"Oh! Uh, well, it wasn't really a big deal, and I wouldn't want to keep you from your shopping."

"Eh, it's fine. I was only heading to Honeydukes because my dad wants some sweets. Apparently muggle candy just "isn't doing it for him." But I can go tomorrow. Plus, no matter what you say, it seemed like a big deal. You looked like you were about to cry or something."

Albus spluttered.

"What! I- well I wasn't going to- I don't know what gave you that idea I was just… it was.. I think one of the dungbombs had a leak. Yeah. Some of the gas go into my eye."

Niamh laughed.

"Dude, chill. It's okay. Whether or not you were crying, that was literally the most stressed out response to a statement that I've ever heard. Let's go head back to Hogwarts and talk, yeah?"

Albus smiled. Maybe he  _ had _ been able to find a new friend.

"Yeah sure. We should still go to Honeydukes though. I've hardly had any sugar in the past few months, and I'm seriously craving some."

Niamh grinned at him. 

"What are you waiting for?"

They made their way back to Hogwarts thirty minutes later and sat down at a bench near the clock tower. The halls were empty, and their footsteps seemed to echo throughout the castle. Niamh was cross-legged one the bench facing Albus, and Albus had his back to the wall, one leg stretched out, and the other bent at the knee, foot flat on the ground.

"So," started Niamh, tearing open a packet of Licorice Wands. "What's up."

Albus sighed.

"I don't know. I was just feeling left out, and I started thinking about my first time at Hogsmeade, and my first three years at school. I guess I'm feeling betrayed or something. I mean, Scorpius  _ asked  _ me to come with me in his date, and then he just ignores me! What kind of friend does that? And don't even get me started on the whole Rose thing. She kept being mean to me; which is unusual for her. Usually she's just teasing. Today she was actually just plain rude. I don't know what got into the two of them."

Niamh took a big bite of her licorice wand.

"Have you considered that maybe they're just excited to be on a date with the other? I mean, they seem like they really like each other. They'll probably go back to normal tomorrow when the first date stage wears off."

"First date stage?"

Niamh nodded.

"Yeah. It's that feeling you get during and after a good first date where you think that it's literally perfect, and your date is perfect, and there's the whole sparks and butterflies and whatever. It's kinda rare, since first dates hardly ever go right, but they might be the lucky type."

Albus was giving her a blank look.

"Oh, right. I'm guessing you've never been on a date before."

Albus nodded slowly.

"Have you?" He asked. 

"One or two. They didn't really work out though."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So, what do I do? Hope that they'll talk to me tomorrow? What if they don't? Scorpius is literally my closest and only friend. I don't think I could deal with that."

Albus went silent for a second, thinking. Niamh had hung out with him all day, and had bought him a butterbeer and sugar quill, when he really didn't deserve it. He looked at her. She seemed to deflate a bit after his words, so he smiled wide. "Scratch that, actually. Scorpius may be my closest friend, but he's not my only one." 

She looked surprised at that, and Albus continued.

"How about you sit at the Slytherin table tomorrow, just in case they're still ignoring me. Maybe you can tell me what you're planning with your 15 dungbombs,  _ friend. _ "

She grinned.

"Maybe I will. I'd have to think about it,  _ friend." _

Albus grinned as well, and chucked a Bertie Botts into his mouth, which he instantly spat out when he tasted that it was used toothpaste. Niamh laughed at him, and he threw one at her, which she failed to catch and dropped into her lap. She picked it up and tentatively put it on her tongue. 

"Yumm, cat fur." She swallowed it whole, and gagged. Then, they burst into laughter.

Albus smiled despite the gross taste in his mouth. He'd thought he'd had a bad day, but he had found a new friend, so maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Maybe this was going to be his year. He didn't need his best friend or his cousin, he had Niamh now. That was enough, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a little bit linger than the others, but oh well.
> 
> Also yes, I'm posting two chapters at 3am I think I'm procrastinating going to sleep


	4. Chapter 4

**Sunday**

**19th of October, 2021**

**Albus**

Okay, so maybe it wasn't enough.

It was the next morning, and as the entire school ate breakfast in the Great Hall, Albus realised that he still wanted Scorpius. Wanted to talk to him, that is.

His friend was currently sitting next to him, hardly eating his food, staring straight at the Gryffindor table with a dopey grin on his face. Albus had eaten a lavish helping of pancakes with thick maple syrup, which had cheered him up a bit, but he had finished a while ago, and Scorpius had hardly said a single word to him, except for a quiet, distracted 'good morning' when Albus had finally arrived.

The night before, Scorpius had missed dinner, and had gotten in late, around 11pm to be exact. Albus had been too tired, and still seething from being ignored, to ask about the date, so he'd pretended to be asleep, keeping the curtains closed right around his bed. He was pretty sure Scorpius had tried to talk to him at one point, but he was purposefully ignoring anything outside of his safety barrier, and had dozed off hoping that Niamh was right and that he wouldn't get pushed aside in the morning.

Unfortunately, after a rough night of waking up multiple times from the same weird dream of golden light surrounding him and warming up every fibre of his body, he woke up a final time at 7am to see that Scorpius' bed was empty. Usually, they went down to breakfast together, but Albus assumed that Scorpius had just been extra hungry, and decided to go down alone, or didn't feel like waiting for Albus to get his ass out of bed.

Albus hadn't even gotten dressed, and he'd raced down to the Great Hall. Scorpius wasn't in their usual seat though, and was two benches down from where they would sit. They'd chosen that spot because that's where the least people sit, and because it's where the good eggs would appear. Albus had given one of the house elves, little Marcie to be exact, a chocolate frog once, and it became a habit of giving her a chocolate frog every time he'd see her in the halls. He'd also hide one under the apples, which were always left uneaten, and in return she made sure that him and Scorpius got the best quality eggs up their end.

When Albus saw Scorpius sitting in a different spot, he brushed it off.  _ Maybe he wanted to give the other kids the good eggs today,  _ he thought. He sat down next to Scorpius.  _ I'm not really in the mood for eggs anyways. _

As soon as he was at Scorpius' level however, was when he noticed why he had moved. Right across from them, two tables over, was Rose. Albus sighed, and turned to Scorpius.

"So, Scorp, how was the date?" He asked. Scorpius briefly looked at him.

"Oh, yeah. It was great. The spaghetti was good."

"It was good huh? What did you do after you ate it?"

Scorpius shrugged.

"We went for a walk. Did some other stuff."

Albus was getting sick of it, but he refused to believe that Scorpius was ignoring him.  _ He's just tired. Once I get him talking about the date, he won't stop, and he'll wake himself up. _

"Other stuff?"

"Yeah."

The conversation was going nowhere, and Albus decided to give up. 

  
  


20 minutes after his failed attempt, Niamh sat herself on the other side of the table. Albus smiled weakly at her, and she smiled back much brighter. She always seemed to be happy, always smiling and making friends.

Over the years, table seating had gotten loose, and even though everyone still sat at their tables for end of year and start of year celebrations as well as holidays, for day to day meals, everyone just sat wherever.

"Hey Niamh," he said flatly. She frowned at him, and be gestured his head at Scorpius. She followed the blond boy's line of sight, then looked back to Albus sympathetically. Loudly, she announced:

"Hey, Albus? How are you doing today?" 

Albus rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine thanks. You don't have to speak loud, you know."

She grinned.

"Oh, you know I do. I have to make up for  _ someone's _ lack of talking." She pointedly waved her hand in Scorpius' direction, and Albus was hardly sure if he knew she was really there. 

"Yeah, it's been like that all day."

He trapped a piece of bacon in his fork and shovelled it into his mouth. 

Niamh looked sorry for him, and she moved around to the other side of the bench, and sat down on the other side of Scorpius. She poked him in the arm and he looked at her.

"Uh, hello. Who are you again?"

She stuck out her hand.

"Niamh Thomas-Finnegan. I'm Albus' friend."

  
  
  
  


**Niamh**

Scorpius mouth hung open in question. He turned to Albus.

"Who is she?"

Albus chuckled. "She's my friend," he said.

"When did you- why didn't I-"

To say that Albus didn't look pleased with himself would be a lie. Honestly, Niamh could understand that. Scorpius had ignored him for 24 hours. Albus had every right to make Scorpius feel jealous and confused. Albus of course, would have denied that. He would've denied that he was 'making him jealous,' but from the stupid look on his face, and the super confused one on Scorpius, Niamh was more than aware of what was going on. 

"Me and Albus met at Hogsmeade yesterday," she explained. Niamh moved to next to Albus. "We hit it off pretty well." 

Niamh liked to hope that she was a good friend and a good person. She said hi to people in the halls, even teachers, and whenever a friend needed something, she would try and get them what they needed to the best of her abilities. Her Dad often said that she had the heart of a Hufflepuff, but the confidence and ideals of a Gryffindor. Her Daidí just said that she had been raised well by two "very handsome and capable fathers," (his words, not hers). 

If her new friend wanted to make someone jealous, Niamh was sure as hell going to play along, despite the fact that she sucked at acting. Trust me, you did not want to see her play charades. Plus, she knew more about Albus than he thought she did, mostly because he had seemed to forget their young childhood together, and had guessed at some  _ other _ theories as to why he was acting this way.

"It's nice to meet you, Scorpius. Albus tells me you went on a date yesterday. Sounds saucy.  _ Tell me more."  _ She sang the last part, despite knowing that it was reference that Scorpius wouldn't get. Scorpius looked  _ very  _ confused at this point, and was looking from Albus to Niamh with wide eyes. Next to her, Albus snickered under his breath.

"Weren't you at Madam Puddifoot's yesterday?" Scorpius stammered, changing the subject. Niamh was prying into his social life, and he brought his arms close to his chest, making himself seem smaller. Niamh was usually the kind of person to pry anyways, but today she was getting into really personal business. She had a plan.

She nodded. "Oh yeah, Albus left his coat on his seat and asked me to go get it.

"Oh. Cool. Listen, I uh, I have to- I have to go. See you later Albus. Nice- nice meeting you Niamh." He stood up suddenly, leaving his plate untouched, and raced out of the Great Hall, sending a weird glance back towards Niamh. She laughed and took a swig of her orange juice. 

"Hey, now you can go after him, since he's not distracted thinking about Rose anymore." 

Albus seemed to be considering it. He looked over at Scorpius' white hair disappearing through the doors. A sigh escaped from his mouth, long and wistful, and he shook his head.

"No, I'm- I'm okay. I'll just stay here. I haven't finished my breakfast yet."

The only indication that he was lying was the fact that he  _ had  _ finished his breakfast. If he hadn't said that, Niamh would've believed that he was actually okay. She decided not to press it. She didn't think that they were close enough friends yet that he would just tell her what was wrong.

"Okay, well do you want to know why I bought all that shit at Zonko's the other day?" 

He perked up.

"What, the secret?"

Niamh nodded.

"So basically, I was talking to your Uncle Ron over the holidays whilst I was at his shop, and he mentioned that after his brothers pranked Professor Umbridge, it became a tradition to prank the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers at OWLs season. Unfortunately, this tradition stopped a year or two after the last Weasley graduated, your mother. Of course, the war had a big impact on it as well, but even the year after that a group of kids got together to raise morale a little bit.

"Now, I care about my OWLs, and I want to get good marks, but I was thinking that instead of pranking the teachers at the end of the school year, I could prank them at the Halloween feast. That way, everyone can see it, and I won't miss out on any important study time. Now, are you in or not."

Albus looked overwhelmed for a second, then he grinned.

"I'm in."

“Great.” Niamh leaned in towards Albus. “So, here’s the plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I edit these less and less as it goes on.
> 
> Sorry about the long-ish wait. Living in Australia is kinda stressful right now, and I kept forgetting that I should get this out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sunday**

**31st of October, 2021**

**Scorpius**

Scorpius liked to think that he wasn't the jealous type, but in the weeks after he'd been on that amazing date with Rose, Albus had been spending more and more time with that girl Niamh, and Scorpius didn't like it.

It wasn't that he didn't like Niamh, oh no. Niamh was great. She was loud, and she wasn't the best at telling jokes-she always seemed to laugh before getting to the punch line- but she was funny in other ways, and very outgoing.

It's just, Albus was supposed to be Scorpius' best friend, and yet, they'd hardly talked for two whole weeks. Two weeks! Those two weeks felt like an eternity to Scorpius.

It wasn't too bad though, since Scorpius had Rose to talk to now too. After their first date, they'd hung out heaps, usually studying in the library since there wasn't much to do or anywhere to go at Hogwarts, but sometimes they'd go down to the lake on warmer days, roll their pants up to their knees, and splash about in the shallows until it got dark. Then they'd walk hand in hand back to the Gryffindor common rooms, Scorpius would say goodnight, and then he'd walk all the way down to the dungeons and into bed. Last week, Rose had kissed him on the cheek before going through the portrait, and Scorpius had taken extra long to get to his common room because he would keep thinking about the kiss, then would miss when the stairs had moved, and would get off at the wrong platform.

It was almost perfect enough for him to forget about Albus ignoring him.

Almost.

Halloween had come, and Scorpius knew that Albus and Niamh were planning something. He just didn't know what it was. They'd spent ages pouring over books and large pieces of parchment with blueprints on them, and Scorpius had even seen them talking to Professor Stone, the Muggle Studies teacher, and Professor Donique, the charms teacher, about something. Rose had told him not to worry about it, and also that it was weird to be so invested in what they were doing every second of the day, which he supposed was fair and definitely true, but it was hard not to be invested.

Albus looked happy. So happy. And Scorpius was unsure if Albus had been this happy when hanging out with him, he'd never noticed. He did know that he would've noticed a smile as big as the one his friend was wearing now, because when Albus walked into the Great Hall on Hallows Eve, Scorpius nearly choked on his pumpkin juice.

Albus and Niamh were walking side by side towards the Gryffindor table, and Scorpius was going to follow them over there when Rose plunked herself down at his table. He smiled her and his face when red. 

Scorpius still wasn't used to the whole 'dating Rose's thing, and still got nervous whenever she was around. Sometimes, he even considered if she was only going out with him as a joke, but the more time they spent together, the more confident he became. He even planned on kissing her properly tonight. 

She was the only person talking to him at the moment, and would often sit through his rants about how Albus wasn't talking to him. Multiple times she had pointed out that Albus was just hanging out with a girl, and how Scorpius had been the same after their first date, and it shut him up pretty quick.

Scorpius was aware that he may of been a little preoccupied a few weeks ago, and he felt really bad. He'd tried to make it up to Albus by trying to give him a box of chocolates, but Albus had said he was busy, so he never gave them to him. To comfort him, Rose had convinced him to eat the chocolates, and Scorpius felt much better after sulking into heaps of sweet, kind of expensive, chocolate. He didn't know what he'd do without her by his side.

"Hey," she said, kissing him lightly on the cheek. He blushed.

"Hey, Rose. How was Art? Professor Burke seemed real angry when I saw her in the halls today. Is she giving you any trouble?"

Rose laughed and shook her head.

"She just doesn't like Halloween. Rich wore a mask in class today and I swear she almost came at him with a paintbrush." Scorpius laughed along with her, but they quieted down as Professor McGonagall walked up to her stand.

"Welcome," she announced, "to our annual Halloween feast! I would like to remind you that going out into the Forbidden Forest is  _ especially _ forbidden tonight, and wanting to 'trick or treat' with the Centaurs is not a valid reason." She sent a pointed glare at one of the seventh year Ravenclaws who giggled along with her friends. "Enjoy the feast!"

As she said that, she spread her arms, and plates upon plates of food appeared on the large tables. Scorpius was about to dig in when he noticed that everyone else was looking towards the teacher's table. Most of the teachers had pushed themselves out of their chairs and backed up against the wall behind them, and Scorpius suddenly noticed that there were dungbombs instead of food in their bowls.

They went off before the teachers had any time to react fast enough, and they were hidden behind a thick cloud of dark green smoke.

Suddenly, the doors flew open as Peeves and a flock of bats came streaming through, and began flying around the room. A girl next to Scorpius screamed, and Rose nudged him in the side.

"They're fake," she said, pointing to one that was flying near them. Scorpius looked closer and noticed that he could almost see through it. "They're fake!" said Rose louder, and a few people began to calm down, but many more were still screaming.

In unison, the bats flew up, and one by one extinguished the candles. The room was plunged into almost-darkness, and everyone was stunned into silence. The bats flew to the double doors at the end of the room, and suddenly turned a glowing orange. They formed into a huge jack-o'-lantern and began floating their way towards the teacher's table. As the bats passed through, the candles began relighting themselves again. 

Peeves had grabbed a tub of sweets from somewhere, and was tossing them into the air. One landed right in Scorpius' plate, but before he could grab it, the wrapping split open and a thick, black spider crawled out. Next to him, Rose shrieked and fell out of her seat.

The bats reached the teachers and passed easily through the smoke, pushing it away with their illusory wings. They hit the back window and disappeared, leaving behind the strong smell of pumpkin spice. 

The spiders burst open, and streams of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans came out. They settled into the floor and tables.

Immediately, the entire hall broke out into chatter. Scorpius looked over to Albus and Niamh to see that they were laughing harder than anyone else, and they high-fived each other.  _ So  _ that's _ what they were planning. _

Even Rose seemed impressed, and she was grinning widely. 

"Wait until Dad and Uncle George hear about this," she said, getting herself off the floor and back into her seat.

McGonagall coughed and yelled for attention. The room went silent.

"That…." Scorpius held his breath. "Was a very impressive prank. Congratulations to whoever pulled it." She waved her wand and the remnants of the dungbomb smoke disappeared, and the teacher's food appeared where it was supposed to. "Happy Halloween," she said with a smile, and everyone began to tuck in.

The students quickly realized that all of the beans were the  _ bad  _ flavours, and steered right away from them.

  
  


After the feast, Scorpius and Rose made their way over to Niamh and Albus. Albus turned away, but Niamh greeted them with a smile and a wave.

"Hey guys, good job. That was pretty impressive. Don't know how you managed to pull it off, but it was amazing."

"Aww, thanks Scorpius. We had some help from a few teachers, and most of the Slytherin and Gryffindor seventh years, so it wasn't just us, but thank you for the compliments." She nudged Albus in the side, and whispered, "say thank you," into his ear. He looked up, and muttered, "Yeah. Thanks." Scorpius' smile dropped. He'd hoped that now their little prank was done, Albus would finally talk to him, but it seemed not.

Rose interjected the awkwardness with, "hey, do you two want to come study with Scorpius and I later?"

Niamh opened her mouth, presumably to say yes, but Albus glared at her and she shut it again.

"We're fine thanks," said Albus. "We're going to be busy planning a Christmas prank."

Niamh made a face.

"A Christmas prank? We never talked about a-"

He elbowed her in the side and she stopped talking.

"Uh, okay cool. So another time then."

Albus nodded unconvincingly.

"Yeah sure. Let's go, Niamh." He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the hall.

"Bye Rose," She called just before she was dragged out of sight. "Bye Scorpius!"

Rose turned to Scorpius, pity clear in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Scor, I tried." Scorpius put an arm around her. 

"I know you did. Thank you."

They walked out of the Great Hall and towards the Gryffindor common room, taking the long route.

When they arrived, the portrait door had just closed, and no one seemed to be around.

"Goodnight, Scorpius," she said, tucking a strand of curly hair behind her ear. Scorpius blushed and scratched his neck.

"Goodnight Rose." Then, he leant forwards, until his face was an inch away from hers. She looked up at him in shock, but understood what he was trying to do. She reached up and cupped his face, then kissed him on the lips. Scorpius could have died right then, and he would of been fine with it. She pulled away, winked at him, then slunk through the portrait. The Fat Lady nodded at him with a grin, and he stumbled his way to his common room, lovestruck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Albus: Scorpius is ignoring me :(
> 
> Scorpius: Albus is ignoring me :( 
> 
> Rose and Niamh: I stg-


	6. Chapter 6

**Saturday**

**27th of November, 2021**

There were many more kisses to come after that one, but first,

**Niamh**

It was a regular day in November when Rose came over to Scorpius, letter in hand. Around them, everyone was wearing their house colours in preparation for the Quidditch game later. The owls had just arrived with the mail and Niamh was in the middle of opening one from her dads. She looked up at Rose with a smile, and nodded at Scorpius. Beside her, Albus tensed up.

"Hey guys. What's cracking?" She asked. Rose waved the letter in her face.

"You and Scorpius have been invited to Christmas at my Nan's house," she said. Albus shifted and she turned to see his pained expression.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Are you sure?"

Rose nodded.

"It says  _ 'Dear Rose. I hope you're having a wonderful time at Hogwarts. Your Aunt Ginny has asked me to tell you that your boyfriend Scorpius, and Albus' friend Niamh are invited to Christmas this year. They can also bring their families if they'd like. Me and Arthur are dying to meet who you've been talking so much about.'"  _ Rose blushed and cleared her throat . "Uh, anyways. Yada yada yada  _ 'Love, Nana Molly.'  _ So, can you come?"

"Hang on, I'll have to check what this letter from my dads says."

She opened it up gently and read it in her head.

_ Dear darling Niamh, _

_ We're really sorry, but your mother has had another of her episodes. We understand if you don't want to come home these holidays, because we know that seeing her is one of your favourite parts. We'll send you loads of presents and sweets to make up for it. _

_ Love you heaps, _

_ Dad and Daidí _

Niamh looked over her letter a few times, then looked back to Rose.

"Yeah, I can come. I'll see if my dads want to come too."

Rose grinned.

"Awesome! See you guys later!"

They walked off and Albus groaned.

"What?"

"Why'd you have to say yes? Now we can't do our Christmas prank."

"We can do it another time. I really want to meet your family. Plus, my dads haven't seen your parents in like, forever. It'll be good for them."

Albus didn't look convinced. Niamh sighed.

"Look, I know it's going to be awkward with Scorpius there, but maybe you can try to make up with him. He's been trying to talk to you for ages, and you keep brushing him off. You two need to be friends again. Honestly, I think it's killing you."

Albus rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic." He paused, considering. "But fine. You're lucky you're so good at manipulating people."

Niamh barked out a laugh.

"I hardly manipulated you. Don't be so dramatic," she mocked. "I was going to go no matter what you said. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't going to be mad at me."

Albus sighed.

"I literally cannot be mad at you. You're too nice."

"Aww, thank you Alby-walby."

He glared at her.

"I take back what I said. I'm mad at you."

They laughed and the tension from Scorpius' visit was gone. Niamh was grinning, and Albus felt lighter than he had in a while..

  
  


**Saturday**

**18th of December 2021**

**Niamh**

Niamh and her dads arrived at the burrow at exactly 11am, according to the electronic clock in their small car. They had planned to use floo powder, but her Dad had pointed out that they had too much luggage, so they just drove over. Niamh was perfectly fine with that, as it gave her time to think.

No one had ever invited her to their house for more than a few days before, and she wasn't sure what to do. Apparently, she was going to be staying in a room with Rose and Lily, she hadn't talked to the latter all too much, but she knew that she was kind, and a little bit quiet. From the passenger seat, her Daidí looked at her in the rearview mirror.

"You 'right there Nee?" It was a silly little nickname that had started when Niamh was three, and couldn't say her own name properly. It had stuck, luckily just within her family, and it felt nice to be called it. It was like having a whole different personality. When someone called her Nee, she felt that she became softer, and more reserved. She looked up at him.

"I'm fine. Just thinking is all."

He grinned.

"You and Harry's boy must be pretty close if he invited you to his house."

Niamh rolled her eyes.

"We're just friends, Da. Nothing else. Anyway, it was Mrs Weasley that invited me, not Albus. All Albus did was mention me in one of his letters to 'is mum."

"Okay, okay. It's a sensitive topic then. I'll shush."

Niamh scoffed.

"Oh, shuddup."

They pulled into the Burrow's driveway, taking in the beautiful property. The large wonky house seemed to fit in with the rolling hills and occasional forests that dotted the land nearby. 

"Wow," said her Dad, brown eyes gazing out fondly at the landscape. "It's a good thing I brought my canvas and paints."

Her Daidí snorted.

"You bring them everywhere." 

Her Dad glared at his husband, but didn't say anything. They parked under the shade of a large tree, and hopped out. They decided to bring their luggage in later, as there was a  _ lot _ .

As soon as they walked in, Ron greeted her Dads with a hug. Then, he turned to Niamh.

"Ah, little Niamh. So good to see you again. It's been so long! Last time I saw you, well, you were probably about 10." Niamh put her hand out to shake, but he ignored it and hugged her tightly.

"It's good to see you too," she managed to squeeze out. He let go, and she took a deep breath.

Molly Weasley came waddling up to her next, still as kindly looking in her old age. She too, hugged Niamh, but gently this time. 

"It's nice to finally meet you, Niamh. I'm so happy that Albus had made more friends."

Niamh nodded, unsure what to say. Suddenly, they heard a loud shout.

"Dean! Seamus!" Harry came in from what looked to be a living room, and embraced them. 

"Good to see you, Harry. How's Ginny?" Niamh's Dad grinned, and both Harry and her Daidí glared playfully at him. Niamh knew enough to know that it was a reference to her Dad's dating history, and laughed a little bit.

"She's wonderful." He turned to Niamh. "Niamh, it's great to see you. Albus is upstairs on the third floor, first door on your left, and Rose and Lily are next to him." Niamh nodded and headed upstairs before anyone else could talk to her. However, as she turned the corner she ran into Albus. He grinned.

"Niamh! You arrived!"

"Yep! Already had the life squeezed out of me by your Uncle Ron."

Albus laughed. 

"Yeah, that's Ron for you. I don't think he knows about personal space."

They walked into the kitchen together. Niamh spared a glance at the large clock on the wall, and almost laughed at how full it was.

"Your Nan is cool. She seems nice."

Albus scoffed.

"Yeah, she's nice until you forget to put your plate up at the sink."

Niamh shrugged.

"Yeah, that's fair. I mean, manners and all, you know? Come on, my Dads want to see you."

  
  


**Albus**

Uncle George had turned up with his wife and kids an hour after Niamh, and an hour after that everyone that was there had gotten settled in. They were still waiting for quite a few people, but that was expected. Albus and Niamh were chatting in Albus' room when they heard a commotion downstairs. They looked at each other.

"Must be Charlie. I bet he's brought his dragons again," said Albus, putting down the book he'd been partially flicking through. Niamh grinned.

"I mean, his siblings are allowed to bring  _ their  _ kids, why can't he bring his?"

They laughed, and headed downstairs.

When they got to the bottom however, it was not Charlie. Standing in Albus' Nana's house was Scorpius Malfoy, and his father. Albus blanched and looked away. Niamh however, grinned and waved. Albus' Dad was half-glaring at Draco. The rest of the Weasleys, apart from Ginny and Molly, were full on glaring. It was awkward.

The first person to approach them was Rose, who took Scorpius' hand and led him away. Draco tightened his hand around his suitcase. Ron looked like he was going to start yelling, and Ginny dragged him into the kitchen. Everyone could still hear them.

"What is he doing here?" Yelled Ron.

"I invited him," retorted Ginny. "Why are you making such a scene?"

"Making a scene? You're the one making a scene by invited him."

Draco was looking uncomfortable, and Molly Weasley came up to him.

"It's lovely to have you here, Draco. Niamh and Albus will show you to your room."

They lead him up the stairs to the third floor, where he and Scorpius would be sleeping, and across the hall from Albus' room.

"Sorry about Uncle Ron," Albus said. Draco waved a hand.

"It's fine. I had to deal with him and your father all through school, so this is really no different." He looked out the small window overlooking the garden, where Molly was heading the other adults into cleaning up the garden. "Then again, their hatred for me is justified. School was… a hard time for me, and I reacted badly to everything that was happening around me. I took it out on your father and his friends, as well as anyone I deemed to 'dirty'." He seemed to suddenly remember who his audience was, and coughed. "I apologise. That's a lot of stuff to drop on two 15 year olds."

Niamh and Albus shrugged.

"It's fine, Mr Malfoy," said Albus, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder, then deciding against it when he realised that it was slightly weird. "It seems like you've had that pent up for a while."

He smiled weakly.

"Yeah. Seems like I have. Thanks, you two. Now, run along. You shouldn't be hanging out with a 40 year old man, you should be with people your own age. Although, make sure you knock. I'm sure you know this already, but Scorpius and Rose seem pretty… attached. I've overheard some of their phone calls, and they're hard to listen to. Don't want to scar you for life."

He chuckled slightly, and Niamh and Albus shared a look, laughing awkwardly. They left the room, and instead of heading to where they would inevitably be, they headed back downstairs to help Molly around the house.

  
  


**Saturday**

**25th of December, 2021**

**Niamh**

Christmas arrived quick, and everyone had arrived safely at the burrow. Percy had arrived with his partner and Bill had arrived with Fleur and Viktorie. Charlie had eventually arrived too, with only one dragon, a young Antipodean Opaleye, that Molly had insisted was to be kept outside, and away from the pigs.

Albus and Niamh had been helping Molly around the house - cleaning, cooking, setting up for Christmas - and Molly had seemed glad to have company. Usually, it was just her and Arthur, but Niamh could tell that with all of her family staying over, that she was much happier.

She'd spent the last week urgently knitting jumpers upon jumpers, and Albus had helped cook the fudge whilst Niamh had the job of wrapping the jumpers in bright wrapping paper, and then placing them under the tree.

The Christmas tree was huge, and was actually a pine that was growing in the backyard. The whole family had spent a whole day decorating it, and Niamh couldn't have been happier. Her and her fathers celebrated Christmas, but they never decorated their tree as much as this. They never _ had  _ as big of a tree as this.

When Christmas morning finally came, Niamh woke to the loud chirping of Lily's owl/personal alarm clock, Friar. He'd woken her up at an ungodly time, 7:30am, and then woken up the rest of the house by waking up Lily. Despite being 13, Lily still loved Christmas, and loved gifts. She'd shaken Rose awake, thundered down the stairs, and possibly crashed into a pile of pans, because Niamh had heard a loud noise, followed by an "ow." Rose groaned and shoved her face into the pillow. 

"Merry Christmas," Niamh said, barely bothering to open her eyes to look over at Rose.

"Merry Christmas," replied Rose. "Welcome to the family. Yes, it's always like this. No, we're never quiet."

**Albus**

Albus was not a morning person, he was not the type to enjoy alarm clocks, and he especially was not the kind of person who appreciates when the first thing they hear in the morning is their little sister's voice. He did, however, enjoy Christmas, so he groggily got out of bed and pulled on a thick dressing gown. Teddy and James were still in the process of waking up, and he decided that he really did not want to talk to them this early. With a sleepy groan he opened the door.

Unfortunately for him, he opened the door at the same time that Scorpius had opened his.

The two of them stood there staring for a bit, neither knowing what to say. Scorpius scratched the back of his neck.

"Merry Christmas, Albus," he said. Albus gulped.

"Uh, yeah. Merry Christmas," he muttered.

Albus went to move forward, but Scorpius did the same thing, so Albus stepped back. Realising that Albus had stepped back, Scorpius had also stepped back to be polite and let Albus go first. Albus took too long in deciding though, because as he went to step into the hallway again, Scorpius also stepped forwards. With a grunt, Albus nodded slightly at Scorpius, then rushed downstairs. Scorpius didn't follow until five minutes later. 

  
  
  


By the time everyone had gotten up, it was almost 10am. Niamh had given her dads their presents separately earlier that morning, and Scorpius and his father had done the same. Now, it was just the gifts from everyone else.

Sitting under the tree outside, spread out neatly on a tarp, was a hefty pile of presents, and everyone raced to get theirs. Even Draco had some.

Albus moved towards his pile, and the opening began.

  
  


15 minutes later, Albus had opened almost all of his presents, and was looking over them. He'd gotten a green jumper from Nana Molly, various sweets and trinkets from the Weasleys who didn't know him as well, and . As he collected up the wrapping paper to dispose of in the bin, he noticed one last present hidden underneath. Gently, he picked it up. Written on the front was 'to Albus, from Scorpius.' Albus looked around, making sure no one was watching him, and then opened it. Inside was a gorgeous bracelet. It was made of thick brown leather, and had a snake carved into it. On the inside, Albus' name was carved in cursive lettering. Albus gasped and looked up at Scorpius, who was fawning over a present that Rose had gotten him, then back down at the gift. Albus gently put it on, attaching the fastenings around his wrist. 

Albus, who had unwrapped his presents faster than most, took the time to look around at everyone else. Nana Molly had (obviously) given everyone hand-knitted jumpers, including Draco, who looked like he was secretly enjoying wearing his silver and black one. Dean and Seamus, who had given everyone popping candy chocolates and personalized paintings, were laughing over a silly little picture book that Ron had gotten for them. Ron himself was talking to Niamh about the prank she'd pulled, and Niamh was showing him a picture she'd taken of the teachers' reactions to the dungbombs. Charlie had gotten the Antipodean Opaleye (whose name was Demi-Lee) a little bow tie, and she was happily prancing around the garden, stopping every now to stick her head in a bush or growl at a bird. Everyone was happy and laughing, and Albus couldn't help but smile too. He loved his family, despite their flaws and mistakes. He would never tell them, obviously, but that didn't mean he loved them any less. He fiddled with the bracelet and looked once more to Scorpius, who was now opening another of his presents. Snow had begun to fall, and had decided to sit himself in his already white hair. Albus sighed, his heart pounding in his chest. He disregarded it and looked up at the sky, letting the snow fall on his face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again! I'm back, after a while two months! Thanks to anyone who had the patience to stick around, I literally love you. I know I'm usually unreliable when it comes to posting, but I really have no excuse not to write now that I have a bunch of free time.
> 
> Just some things to discuss:
> 
> First off, I didn't feel like googling if Percy ever married anyone, so I just said "his partner". Personally, I ship him with Oliver Wood, but I know that not a lot of people do, so I left it vague. He can be married to whoever y'all want him to be married to. Even if that's yourself.
> 
> What's this? Niamh having a mysterious family life and secrets? Hmmm, I wonder what's up with that?
> 
> Also, little fun fact, the dragon that Charlie brought (Antipodean Opaleye) is an Australian dragon, and I chose it purely because I'm Australian. 
> 
> Enjoy this chapter, and expect to see more content soonish!


	7. Chapter 7

**Friday**

**31st of December, 2021**

**Scorpius**

Scorpius was confused. For the last few months, Rose had been fantastic. The two of them had hung out every single day, and Scorpius had never been happier. However, lately, she'd been acting… weird. A few days after Christmas, Scorpius had been on a rant about some book he had read, when Rose had started glaring at him. He couldn't even remember which book it was now. Then, earlier today, whenever Scorpius had done _anything_ , she'd rolled her eyes and left the room. 

In preparation for New Year's Eve, the Weasleys, the Malfoys and the Thomas-Finnegans had all made their way to the top of a large hill, and Dean and Seamus' had helped Arthur prepare some fireworks that could be set off with a spell. Scorpius and Rose sat side by side, and Scorpius was trying not to do or say anything. He checked his watch: 11:50pm. Around him, everyone was drinking and laughing. Albus and Niamh were sitting a little bit away, looking up at the stars. Albus' brother, James, seemed to notice him looking at them, and slid over next to Scorpius.

"Are they dating, or what?" He said, clearly tipsy. He had a half-full bottle in his hand. Scorpius wasn't sure how James's family had allowed it, but he shrugged anyway.

"I dunno." _Were they?_ "Albus and I haven't really talked in a while."

James frowned.

"Oh. Well, all the adults think they are. They don't want to pressure Ally though, in case he goes off again, so they're waiting for him to come out and say it."

Scorpius studied the way they were sitting. They were sitting awfully close for 'just friends', and they both had soft smiles on their faces as they waited for midnight. James shrugged and chugged the rest of his drink.

"Well, it doesn't seem like the two of them are ever going to say anything, so I'm going to ask them."

Before Scorpius had any time to protest, James had hopped up and wandered. Rose scoffed.

"Well, that's only going to end in disaster," she said. Scorpius nodded.

"Yeah," he said bluntly. He was sure that if he'd said anything else, Rose would've rolled her eyes again, so he ended it there, despite desperately wanting to comment on the situation.

 _Better to not say anything at all than to get yelled at,_ he decided. Scorpius and Rose watched as James plopped next to Albus and flung his arm around his little brother. Scorpius rechecked his watch: 11:55pm.

Suddenly, Albus jumped up, face bright red and fists clenched. James had also gotten up and had thrown his arms up in defence, stepping back a bit from Albus. Albus yelled something that Scorpius couldn't hear, then stormed off away from everyone and headed down the other side of the hill. James laughed, and Niamh got up to tell him off. Scorpius looked around.

"I should probably go after him," he said. "Make sure he's okay." 

Rose huffed and rolled her eyes, and Scorpius got up to find him.

Albus was sitting with his back to everyone else, looking out at the view from the hill; it was amazing. Glowing dimly under the pale moonlight and stars, Scorpius could see rolling hills stretching for what seemed like miles. Beyond that were the faint lights of a city or town. He sat on the grass a metre away from Albus.

"Are you… alright?" He asked timidly. "I don't know what James said, but it was kind of my fault. He was asking me about Niamh, and I really didn't know the answer, so he went to ask you, but if I'd made up-made up something then he might have left you alone."

Albus shook his head.

"It's alright. My main problem is that James was snooping. He doesn't actually care about my personal life, he just wants something to use against me to distract our parents when he's getting in trouble. He does it all the time, and they always fall for it. It's always 'James, empty the dishwasher!' and then he's like 'Albus punched someone at school today!' It's really frustrating."

Scorpius frowned.

"When did you punch someone?"

Albus laughed slightly. 

"Oh, it was before we met. It was at a muggle school in London when I was 8. Mum and Dad only sent me there for one year because they wanted me to make more friends, but it didn't work too well."

"Well yeah, you _punched someone_."

Albus burst out laughing, and Scorpius grinned. This was their first proper conversation since early October, and Scorpius tried to remember how it felt to have Albus laugh at _his_ jokes.

Scorpius wasn't jealous, obviously. Just upset that his best friend hadn't been talking to him.

From over the hill, everyone started counting down. With a loud bang, the fireworks started going off. Seamus gave a loud 'whoop' as they exploded into colourful patterns.

Albus glanced at Scorpius.

"Shouldn't you be with Rose right now?" He asked. "I mean, she is kind of your girlfriend, and you're supposed to kiss your girlfriend on New Year's Eve or whatever."

Scorpius looked away. 

"I dunno. I've been thinking about breaking up with Rose."

Albus' eyes widened.

"Breaking up? I thought you two were perfect for each other."

Scorpius shrugged, plucking a piece of grass out the ground and tearing it apart with his fingers.

"I thought we were, but she's been acting kind of weird lately. She keeps being rude to me when I've literally done _nothing_. Or at least, nothing I can think of."

Albus frowned slightly, but then his expression went cold, and Scorpius leant forwards to check his face.

"Are you alright?" 

Albus looked away.

"I'm fine. Go back and spend time with Rose. Or don't. I need to think."

Scorpius was even more confused. That was out of nowhere. They'd been joking only seconds ago, but his mood had changed so fast that Scorpius could have sworn he got whiplash. Suddenly, it occurred to him.

"God, Albus, I'm really sorry for complaining about my relationship. I mean, I didn't even _think_ about you and Niamh. Shit, this is so awkward. 'Great dating advice, Scorpius. Scare him into thinking that relationships end badly.' Again, I'm so sorry."

Albus didn't say anything. He didn't even deny being with Niamh. He just turned away, and Scorpius trudged back up the hill, his heart heavy. One last firework went off, green, blue and gold light spreading across the sky. 

**Albus**

Albus wasn't quite sure why he'd suddenly gotten so angry at Scorpius, or why he hadn't said no to his assumption about him and Niamh. Albus just sat on the damp grass, regretting every decision he'd ever made. With a sigh, he hung his head and considered a few things. 

Right before he'd gotten angry, he'd been happy. Really happy. As he thought about it, he realized that he was mad at his happiness. 

_Why would I be angry at being happy?_ he asked himself. _That doesn't even make sense._

He'd been happy that Scorpius was breaking up with Rose. Maybe he was happy because it meant that he could spend time with Scorpius again. 

It occurred to him that Scorpius had just been talking to him then, despite still dating Rose. He put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. 

And then there was the whole Niamh thing.

He'd never romantically thought of Niamh before. He'd never even considered to be his 'type,' whatever that meant, but maybe that's all it was. Maybe he did like Niamh, and he got angry because he didn't want to fuck it up with her.

Yeah. That's what it was. He liked Niamh, he concluded. He liked Niamh, and his anger at Scorpius was justified because it was all because of Niamh.

_I hope_ he added bitterly. _God, I hope that's all it is._

Albus laid down on his back, staring up at the sky. A constellation that Albus didn't recognize twinkled overhead, mocking him.

"Happy New Year," he muttered. The night sky whispered back:

_Happy New Year._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I look up to the constellation stickers on my roof when writing the last paragraph? Yes. Yes, I did. 
> 
> Do I have the Scorpius constellation on my roof? Yeah. I do.
> 
> Are these statements related? Who knows


	8. Chapter Eight

**Tuesday**

**8th of February**

**Scorpius**

School started back again, and Scorpius had come to a conclusion.

He was going to break up with Rose.

She was acting rude, and refusing to talk to Scorpius about it, so the only course of action was obviously to end things with her. He didn't want to hurt her though, so he was sitting on his bed, trying to come up with a good way to break up with her.

So far, he had three options.

Number one was the option that he should probably choose. It involved him taking her aside and just explaining to Rose why he was breaking up with her. Scorpius instantly got rid of this option, and decided that it was too hard.

Number two was to write her a letter. The least confrontation the better, he thought, and it would be easy to avoid Rose after giving her the letter.

The third option was to not break up with her, and to wait for her to break up with him. It seemed like it was going to happen anyway, and it required barely any effort from Scorpius himself. This was Scorpius' preferred choice, as it was the easiest.

Unable to decide, he got up and headed down to the Great Hall for lunch. Maybe there'd be something down there to help him make a decision.

  
  


He had barely made it to the doors to the hall before Rose intercepted him. She grabbed him by the arm and led him away.

"Hello Rose. Could you tell me where you're taking me by any chance?" he asked as he stumbled along. Rose didn't answer.

Rose eventually took him to a secluded hallway, and turned to him. 

"My family wants you to come over during the next school holidays."

Scorpius frowned.

"Okay, and?"

"If you want them to really like you, you're going to have to stop doing a few things."

"I don't understand," Scorpius whispered, stepping away from Rose and crossing his arms over his chest. Rose sighed.

"Of course you don't. God, why are you so inept?"

Scorpius made a sound like he was choking and Rose gasped. "Scor, I swear I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that, well, you're a little strange sometimes, and you tend to go off on tangents. It's not necessarily a bad thing all the time, but if you weren't so… odd… then maybe my dad would be willing to look past the whole Malfoy thing."

With a grimace, Scorpius shook his head.

"Seriously, Rose? I can't believe you. If your parents are going to like me, it's going to be because they see me for who I really am, not for who you want me to be. They're going to like me because of my strangeness, and because I'm a Malfoy. Because being a Malfoy doesn't mean being evil, it means standing by your beliefs, and I believe that being weird is the best thing I could be, because at least I'm not stuck up like you."

Rose flinched and pulled back. Her mouth opened and closed like a poor imitation of a fish, and before she had a chance to speak, Scorpius continued.

"Whatever," he said, clenching his fists to try and stop the intense shaking that was travelling though his body. "We're done, Rose."

And so, Scorpius turned and went back in to the Great Hall. Part of him was proud for giving Rose a piece of his mind, but a nagging feeling lingered in his chest. Maybe Rose was right. Maybe he did need to change his behaviour. He _did_ notice how some people would roll their eyes whenever he got too excited about a topic, and Scorpius recalled the many times that his father had dismissed him halfway through another of his rants about whichever new fact he had found out. Even Albus had done it back when they were friends.

No. Fuck that. Scorpius was allowed to be who he wanted to be. He grinned as he skipped down the hall. His first thought was to go tell Albus, and decided to act upon that thought without too much about how Albus was mad at him. Maybe it would improve their relationship somehow.

  
  


**Albus**

Albus was making his way to Potions class when an over excited Scorpius appeared suddenly in front of him. Albus merely raised an eyebrow.

"You'll never guess what I did, Albus. I just broke up with Rose! And it feels so free!"

Albus rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, I heard. Rose came crying to me complaining about how you broke her heart. Apparently, her main issue is that it was a week before Valentine's Day, and now she has no one to give her a card. I think she's upset because she's not used to being told 'no', but she'd never admit it. Unfortunately, everyone knows about your argument because she made such a big scene about it. Listen, great talk, but I have to go."

He looked around for an excuse, and spotted Niamh coming out of the bathroom.

"I promised Niamh I'd walk her to her next class. Some asshole has been following her and just generally being creepy." Without properly saying goodbye, he walked off, making a beeline towards Niamh. He could feel Scorpius’ eyes burning into the back of his head, but he didn’t turn around. He knew that he should be comforting Scorpius right now; the poor guy had just dumped the girl he’d liked for five years. Yet, whenever he thought about talking to Scorpius about Rose, he felt like vomiting. 

Niamh saw him approaching and frowned.

“Albus? What are you doing? Don’t you have class?”

He snuck a look backwards.

“Scorpius.”

Niamh rolled her eyes. 

“Fine. Come on.”

She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away, leaving Scorpius confused and deflated behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate on Rose.. she's going through some stuff and needs to realise that she's wrong before she can change her attitude.
> 
> Just quickly though, I want to discuss J.K Rowling. I know that the whole fiasco was a few weeks ago so it's not really relevant, but honestly fuck her. I've disliked her for a while but her comments were the last straw. Hogwarts was a place where I found comfort as someone who never really fit in with my friends, and now my trans siblings are being pushed out of that wonderful safe haven. Part of me is tempted to do a whole rewrite of Harry Potter without the transphobia, homophobia, racism, toxic femininity and anti-Semitism, but I don't have the time or patience to do so. The whole 'death of the author' thing is selfish, and it allows people to read the work without acknowledging the shitty parts of it.
> 
> Anyways, tiny rant over, I'm not here to argue, and if you agree with her then I'm sure you have you own reasons for being intolerant. I just want to say that I will continue to write and publish this fic, but in no way do I support the ideals that Rowling expressed in her original novels. I will continue to add representation into the wizarding world to make up for her intolerance, and no one can stop me.
> 
> All that aside, I will probably be more frequent in my next few updates, as I'm using camp nanowrimo July to motivate myself to finish. Only a few more chapters left!

**Author's Note:**

> I dunno how frequently I'll update, but I will update... Hopefully


End file.
